The Mark Darrel business (last episode on Volume 1) is a little bewildering, as we find out at the end that he was an android. Does that mean Zelda had killed the "real" Darrel, or hidden him away somewhere, and created an android version of him? It's like the Stepford Children!

The episode was Close Call.It's a mystery what happened to Darrel, when he's waiting for the Overlander with the Cube he still seems to be normal as he calls Zelda a hag and Yung-Star an idiot then the Cube shines a green light in Darrel's face. At first I thought he was brainwashed (It's pretty obvious) but then at the end we find out he was an android. So either Darrel was an android the whole time (I guess androids exist in Terrahawks remember in Expect the Unexpected Part 2 when Hawkeye said some of his best friends were androids) but he was a good android until Zelda brainwashed him or somehow that green light replaced all his body organs will machinery. I don't know which one to believe.

If he had been replaced with an android by Zelda, then why did she need to keep on reminding him of his mission throughout the ep? Couldn't she just program him to 100% obey?But then if he was an android to begin with, then...how can he drink? And does he really have a mind to control..... THE WHOLE THING IS TOTALLY BEYOND MY COMPREHENSION!

Well, if the androids can eat (granite crunchies and carbon jelly, stuff like that), presumably they can drink too. They can also cry (as Cystar does when Zelda doesn't allow her to accompany Yuri and Yungstar to Earth). Thinking of all the crucial differences between them and the "Earth scum": they probably don't have a bloodstream (although they can feel pain); they can reproduce asexually, and they obviously have much longer lifespans.

Yes, they do drink:'We will drink to the downfall of the accursed Terrahawks!' etc>>they can reproduce asexuallyHow do you know? It-Star could be the son of one Zelda's monsters - MOID, for instance, would be a logical father to such a genderally (is that a word) screwed-up child as It-Star.

OK, I should wait until I have seen the It-Star episodes, before I make dogmatic statements; does Cystar actually go into labour, or does she produce her kid another way? I have my own reasons for hoping the androids aren't entirely asexual beings!Of the monsters, Moid and Lord Tempo are the only ones I can think of, as the potential father. The others are animals.

She doesn't say she's done this to herself, the only line that might indicate that she made it is 'We're androids, Cystar can choose what (sex) it will be'But yes she does go into labour, Zelda whisks her off to the delivery room

Cystar is obviously very indecisive, as she couldn't choose one definite gender! The poor child!One episode guide, online, referred to the hermaphrodite baby as Birlgoy; does it then have 2 names? One on the birth certificate and one as a pet-name, perhaps? It-Star is a much better name, because it fits in with the names of Zelda's other relatives.